


"her kiss of fire increased my desolation"

by fannishliss



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Gen, Women of Supernatural
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-08
Updated: 2013-10-08
Packaged: 2017-12-28 18:04:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/994903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fannishliss/pseuds/fannishliss
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>ficlet about the Crossroads Demon, who was first introduced in 2.08 Crossroad Blues</p>
            </blockquote>





	"her kiss of fire increased my desolation"

 

The crossroads has always been a fearsome place.  Gods have watched over it since Hermes, since Legba, the four directions inscribed awry, pathways meeting at an angle between random towns,  lives playing out on the crooked cross scratched and worn down into the earth by wanderers.    But you knew all that.  What matters is this:

She'll meet you there if you ask her nicely. Tell her your name, testify that it's yours. Give her a bone or a herb that's hard to get -- it's just a little sacrifice to show her that you're serious.  Bury your name in a box there, digging down into the hard packed soil, through the layers of macadam and gravel and clay, hard and unforgiving as a deeper place.  Scrabble shallow down into the earth, mock out a grave with  a bribe, yourself. 

She's not the only one that's ever come through here, and certainly you don't think that you're the only one, ever -- though you'll justify to yourself that your motives are noble, your heart is pure -- she won't care about that.  Her job is the crossroads, the moment you take the easy way out, the sinister turn that always leads back.

The Crossroads Demon will be sure of herself. As she leans in to kiss you, you'll know she enjoys it, though you will taste creosote, ash, and ice. She's never been bested, as you'll know while her kiss consumes something you hoped you'd preserve...

Still the roar of an engine will make her draw back -- nervous eyes flickering past you to the road.  An old car  will pause at the fourway stop, rolling through, driving on.

She'll laugh a bit.  "I had an older sister once.  She hated a car like that.  I had an older brother once too, and that same car took him to his end.  Tell me," she'll say, turning fiery eyes on you.  "Do you think a fast car can outrun a demon?  because I'm here to tell you -- it can't.  And if you think a fast car can catch up to a Demon -- it can -- but we are always waiting in line -- one behind another, and you'll never outlast us, no matter how powerful your engine may be."

The Crossroads Demon will size you up.  "Ten more years," she'll say, and toss her golden curls behind her.  "I'll be watching, baby, and I sincerely hope you enjoy them.  It'll make the contrast with what comes after all the more delicious."

The Crossroads Demon is bound by certain codes to certain truths.  Nothing else matters to you now, and nothing else, really, ever will.

 

**Author's Note:**

> title from Robert Plant's song, "29 Palms", from his 1993 album Fate of Nations.


End file.
